SINGAPORE (Apr 30): Fraser and Neave (F&N) says 2Q19 earnings more than doubled to $35.9 million from $15 million a year ago.

This brings 1H19 earnings to $73.8 million, 81% higher than $40.8 million in 1H18.

Revenue for the quarter grew by 3.4% to $467.4 million from $452.1 million a year ago, mainly due to higher contributions from dairies operations, particularly from the group’s associated company in Vietnam, Vinamilk.

The group has a total of three business segments.

The beverages segment saw revenue increase by 6.1% to $122.2 million, mainly due to growth in Soft Drinks Singapore on the back of improved sales of 100Plus and Seasons Iced Lemon Tea. Despite the improvements in revenue, PBIT losses widened to $1.7 million from last year.

Revenue from the dairies segment grew by 5% to $287.6 million, mainly attributable to the dairies business in Thailand which recorded double digit growth on the back of successful execution of push and pull programs in all sales channels in the domestic and export markets. This was however partially offset by the decrease in revenue by the dairies business in Singapore, mainly due to a one-off export contract last year, and in Malaysia as a result of canned milk competition and higher trade promotions.

The printing and publishing segment recorded a 8.6% decrease in revenue to $57.6 million, mainly due to the continued decline in print volume experienced by the printing plants in Singapore and Malaysia and timing difference in textbook publication.

As cost of sales increased by 1.3% y-o-y to $317.2 million, 2Q19 gross profit came in at $150.1 million, 8.1% higher than $138.8 million last year.

During the quarter, the group recorded other income of $3.1 million, compared to other expenses of $4.4 million in the previous year.

Operating expenses increased by 1.4% y-o-y to $116.5 million.

Share of associated companies’ profits increased by 75.8% y-o-y to $29.5 million.

As at end March, F&N’s cash and cash equivalents stood at $323.0 million.

The group has declared an interim dividend of 1.5 cents, to be paid on June 10.

Shares in F&N closed at $1.79 on Tuesday.

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